The Restless State of a Lover
by Rookatthedoor
Summary: Valentine's Day Story... *The Restless State of a Lover is a portion of the title of a poem by Henry Howard. Earl of Surrey. Henry and Vicki argue and Vicki is plagued by dreams that she has lost Henry forever. Henry/Vicki pairing.
1. Chapter 1

The condo was dark as Vicki cracked open the door.

_Good_, she thought _I have a few minutes_. She eased the door open just wide enough to feel for the light switch and the room was bathed in a warm light. She closed the door gently behind her listening as the latch snicked home.

She leaned her head against the door frame and rested there for a moment gathering her courage.

_This is a stupid idea,_ a _spur of the moment, just do it, kind of an idea that I know I am going to regret, the kind of idea I always regret. What the hell am I thinking sneaking into a vampire's sanctuary on Valentine's Day, it gives a whole new meaning to the expression 'Love Bites', _she thought just a little hysterically_. I could leave now, just open the door and go, of course, if I did that he would know I had been here, there is no fooling that bloodhound nose of his, and then he'll know that I chickened out at the last moment, which is really what I am thinking of doing right this second._

"Cluck, cluck, cluck," she said under her breath as an image of Mike performing a scratch and peck version of the chicken dance spun across her mind. _Funny Mike always had a way of tempting me to do whatever it was that I was afraid of._

Straightening, she opened her eyes and turned, to move a few steps into Henry's space. The shutters where closed, a blank dark surface filling the windows and blocking what she knew was a beautiful red gold sunset, from her view.

There was an air of stillness in the condo, a quiet feeling of separateness that seemed to sink into her spirit. Walking across to the shades she touched the satiny surface with a finger, here was his safety, here he was safe. A profound sense of security filled her; _he was safe here from something that she could not protect him from. He could shut out the world that would hurt him, destroy him._ She allowed her fingers to trail down the surface of the shutter, unwilling to allow her thoughts to wander further along that line. _I would rather face the sunrise than…_

She found herself tip toeing across to the kitchen and paused. _What the hell Nelson, she thought, it's not like you're going to wake him, only the night can do that, he is a vampire after all,, a vampire… dead to the world._

_What a stupid fucking argument that was, I can't believe that things blew up that way, he is just so…so…_

_It was a simple comment really; I didn't mean anything by it…just an observation nothing more._

**:::**

Two days earlier…

The door of the office clicked closed and the cold air wafted in around Coreen's feet beneath her desk. She looked up to see Henry, leaning one jean clad thigh on the edge of the desk, as the scent of wool and frosty February air, clean and cold pervaded the room.

"Good evening Coreen," Henry lips lifted in a smile that ran all the way to his twinkling eyes. _His best feature,_ Coreen thought, _definitely his smile is his best feature…at least of those that I have seen._

Henry was tugging off his gloves, "How has your...day been?" He asked her, "Busy?"

"Yeah pretty much, we have a couple of new cases that we're researching and then there was a new lead on the missing teens in Brampton, I made a run to the stationary store. How was yours?" The words were out of her mouth before she thought, "Ahhh, I mean…" she said awkwardly. _Sometimes I just forget, which is like so weird, how could I forget that this is a 480 year old vampire._

Henry chuckled, "My day? Rather on the quiet side, I would say." He said with a smile. _I don't really know how my day was, I know that the time passed, between my last conscious thought and my most recent, because the world has moved on, the day changed slowly to night, …but where I was, while all the day's events happened, that question is…_

He crossed the room to touch the red foil cupids and cardboard candy valentine hearts that Coreen had hung on the walls and window of the office, diverted he asked "What spell did you use, Coreen, to get Vicki to agree to you hanging these reminders of St. Valentine's Day?"

Now it was Coreen's turn to smile and she rolled her dark eyes towards the door of Vicki's office, "Oh just my most powerful, and even then, I thought I might require your powers of…persuasion," she said archly.

Henry had to laugh at the lewd innuendo in the young Goths expression, _she really is most dear to me_, he thought and he inclined his head to her regally and said "Your most humble servant, my lady."

"Are you expecting Vicki to return soon?" he asked, having already determined that she was not in the building.

"Yeah, she called a couple of minutes ago, she was down at the station going over some files with Mike, something to do with the new client that we got this morning, Phillip Dranger, some big-wig antiquities dealer."

_With Celluci, I should have known, probably sitting heads together over the files, reminiscing about the good old days while I was lying oblivious to the world…_ the heat of jealousy washed through him, _I cannot share her days… _

"Phillip Dranger, owner of Dranger and Stanton Antiquities?" Henry asked. "I have dealt with that firm on several occasions; I hope that it is nothing too serious."

"They think an executive assistant or a banking intermediary may be funneling off funds from international transactions or something; they were looking at bank records and spreadsheets."

"Mmm-huh," Henry replied distracted, the door below closed with a slam and he heard Vicki's footsteps on the stairs, rapid, she was in a hurry and he heard Celluci's heavier tread behind. _Damn_.

She was through the door in one swift movement and asked hurriedly, "Did Henry call?" roughly in the direction of Coreen's desk.

Coreen cleared her throat loudly, nodding her head in the direction of the corner where Henry was standing, arms crossed, directly below a cardboard candy heart that was mounted on the wall, emblazoned with the words 'Kiss Me'.

Vicki turned, "You're early tonight, didn't you need to stop for a little something on the way?" she said with a slight grimace.

_I will not rise to that bait_. "No," he said calmly, "I fed yesterday evening, so my time is all yours this evening."

"So the citizenry of Metro Toronto are off the menu for tonight, Count?" Mike asked, shrugging out of his coat.

Henry smiled benignly in Celluci's direction. "Unless you would like me to make a _personal_ exception, detective, yes they are."

Henry heard Coreen's soft sigh from across the room, and turned to glance in her direction, he was well aware of Coreen's infatuation with him and he could not deny that, if it wasn't for Vicki, his "warrior princess", he felt more than a spark of attraction to Coreen's joyous and indomitable personality.

Celluci passed through to the inside office, "Yeah, whatever, scotch in the usual place, Vic?"

Henry's gaze was brought back to Vicki with her exhalation "Yeah, lower desk drawer," then turning back to Henry, "It's just as well, we have a couple of new cases that we are working on, I'll show you what I have." She crossed to him and placed her palms gently on his chest and bringing her lips close to his, her scent and the scent of the night surrounding him.

He leaned towards her, and as their eyes met she smiled seductively and said "I didn't know you needed to advertise your desires, Hank."

At his puzzled look she pointed to the sign above him, craning his head around, he turned back with a wicked smile and said to her retreating back, "Does this mean that you're going to…Vicki?"

They had the file spread out on the desk and had been leafing through the documents for a few minutes, when Coreen came in with a carrier with three cups of coffee and a bottle of spring water under her arm.

"Henry said that he had done some business in the past with Mr. Dranger's company." She said placing a cup on the desk in front of Vicki, and holding out the water to Henry.

"Thank you Coreen," he said as he twisted off the top and raised the bottle to his lips.

"Really, that's interesting, what kind of business? Any insights into their operation?" Vicki asked as she sipped her coffee.

Henry lowered the bottle and said, "Dranger is a partner in a firm that I sometimes deal with, they acquire, items of some interest which they auction or sell privately depending on the item. I am more familiar with William Stanton, his partner. William knows that I am interested in artifacts from a certain period and will sometimes contact me when there is an item on the market that he thinks I might find of interest."

"Let me guess, the Tudor period, right?" Mike said. "Dranger and Stanton specialize in period antiques, very upper crust, and British in origin, just the sort of thing that a _vampire prince_ would be into. We saw the catalogues, some of the gowns and doublets and coats heavily embroidered and jewel encrusted."

"Yes," Henry said shortly, rankled that Vicki and Mike had been discussing him however obliquely.

"So aside from filling up a very expensive, dress-up trunk, what other items would you find 'of interest?'

"Documents, weapons, books, artifacts, and in particular jewelry." Henry responded tightly.

"Ah yes, I heard that Henry VIII, liked to gift his lady friend's with jewelry. Like father like _bastard_ son, would that be it? Mike sniped.

Henry was suddenly very close to Mike and leaning closer still said. "My father, was well known, for his generosity and his courtly attention to the fairer sex, detective. Many of the pieces I have acquired over the years, were indeed, gifts of the _King's_ favor to women with whom I was personally acquainted, my mother, my half sister, my widow. At least we knew how to demonstrate appropriate regard for the women we loved."

"Tell that to Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard." Vicki said.

Henry swung his head around to regard her coldly, "I yield, as it seems I am attacked on two fronts." He said with a sharp bow.

"May be you should retreat entirely, Captain Canine," Mike blurted out, uncomfortable with how intimidated Henry's proximity had made him.

"Shut up Mike. Enough already, you two!" Vicki barked, and then there was silence as she took a long swallow of her coffee. "Can we pay attention to the file at hand?"

_Why is he staying? The night is mine. He has the day, the day when I can't be near her. Why is he still here, this is my time?_

As if he could hear Henry's thoughts or as though in answer to his wish, Mike roused himself, from his seat. "I'm outa here, so Vicki, you are sure you're alright with Sunday?"

"Mike, you know I am happy for you and Sylvie. I am happy that you have someone in your life now."

Henry's head came up and his eyes narrowed as he observed Vicki. She continued and though her words were calm and even encouraging, her body language and her scent told a different story.

"I will say, though how you can stand your aunts lording over you about their matchmaking skills, I don't know?" she said.

"Actually, it's my sister that is the worst," Mike said with a lopsided grin, "Mike, we love Sylvie, such a nice Italian girl and a nurse, such a good, safe job." He said imitating the pitch of his sister's voice. "Then he sobered, "I feel bad though, it's our tradition on Valentines."

"Don't worry about it, Mike; come on, a hot date with your new girlfriend or a movie and Chinese with your ex-partner? That's not a really hard choice." Vicki smiled, but Henry could scent the tang of her discontent in the air and as he breathed deeper, Celluci's arousal and…sadness?

Henry pushed himself away from the wall, crossing to Celluci his hand extended. "I believe congratulations are in order."

Mike hesitated briefly before taking that cool hand in his.

"And when, may we expect, to meet your new lady, detective?" Henry asked with a smile.

Celluci's brow lowered. "Stay away from Sylvie, Fitzroy. I don't want you or any of this…" Mike threw out his arm to include the general surroundings, "weird shit that surrounds you, anywhere near her."

Henry was shocked at Mike's response, he of all people should know, that once your eyes were opened to what truly haunted the night, there was no going back to a blissful state of ignorance.

"Come on Mike, that is so not…" Vicki began but Henry over road her.

"I will respect your wishes, detective. If you view me as a threat, then, I will be sure to stay away." Henry said with a slight incline of his head.

"Good," Mike said, relief and embarrassment at war inside him, at Henry's serious response to his request. "I wouldn't want her to catch a glimpse of you wandering around in a doublet and tights, while you're playing dress up, Prince. I've heard those tights can be pretty revealing." He opted for the barb.

Henry only smiled and said, "I think that we should leave a discussion of your feelings of inadequacy, for another evening. Have no fear for Vicki's amusement on St. Valentine's Day, Constable; I am sure I will be able to think of something to…"

"You were leaving, Celluci." Vicki interrupted from her desk. "And if you want to stay, 'Sweet Prince', then make yourself useful, and help me with this file."

Henry raised an elegant brow to Celluci. With a mumbled curse; Mike turned and made for the door.

Crossing to Vicki, Henry placed one hand flat on the desk top and one hand on Vicki's shoulder leaning in to regard the papers on the desk. He was far too close for Vicki's comfort and as she turned to tell him so, she was struck by his profile as his eyes traveled across the pages.

He sensed her gaze and turned his face to hers, their noses only a few inches apart. His eyes were cornflower blue as he whispered. "Am I, Vicki? Am I your Sweet Prince?"


	2. Chapter 2

Vicki licked her lips with the tip of her tongue her eyes gazing into hers. "Uhhh," she cleared her throat as she broke off her gaze. She patted the papers in front of her. "Pay attention mister." She said visibly unsettled. Henry grinned and returned his attention to the document.

After a few moments of regarding the spreadsheet in front of them, Henry's fingertip ran along under a line. "Here…this line is a transaction on my account; see the code FITZLTD000, which is my account code. I recognize the item number; it represents a cabochon cut, star ruby necklace that I purchased last November. The amount listed for the piece on this spreadsheet is $30,000 dollars less than was actually transferred from my account. The transaction took place in London, so it would have moved through the international offices."

_Thirty thousand gone on one transaction, and he doesn't even seem pissed… I wonder how much..._ She turned to the vampire beside her, "That's good Henry, are there others?

Fifteen minutes later, they had a list of five transactions over the past year under the account number FITZLTD000, a manuscript, a jeweled dagger, a carved clothing chest, an emerald broach and the ruby necklace. The manuscript and the dagger were purchased at auction in Toronto and Henry confirmed that the dollar amounts were correct. The clothing chest was a part of a reverse transaction. Henry had sold an antique book and payment was in both cash and the chest. The transaction was again in Toronto and Henry confirmed, after some consideration that the amounts were indeed correct. The jewelry was another matter, both transactions came out of a London auction house and like the ruby necklace, the emerald broach, showed a transaction cost booked lower than what Henry had wired to the British bank , by twenty-five thousand dollars.

"I think we broke it, at this end Henry, they just need to contact their customer list for the other side of these transactions. You did well, Grasshopper." Vicki smiled up at him.

"And may ask a boon my Lady, as the reward for my labors?" Henry responded.

"Coreen," Vicki called, stalling for time and the Goth came to the office door, "can you get some copies of the pages with the circled amounts, and this page of notes? Then call Dranger in the morning and tell him to start on the other customers with transactions coming out of the London office."

"Sure Vicki" Coreen said as she took the papers that Vicki held out to her. "I just have about another 20 minutes of work to do and then unless you need something else, I'll be leaving."

Henry settled in the chair with a sigh, _Vicki has managed to successfully change the topic again. _

Coreen's dark rimmed eyes, met his mischievously, as she turned away from the desk with a swirl of her dark hair.

Coreen continued past him, nudging his thigh with her knee and saying, "So, where were you? Oh yes, Henry was asking for a boon from his lady, right?

_Damn it Coreen_. Vicki thought.

"Dinner on Sunday night, say, around nine, at Gaston's, to celebrate Valentine's Day." Henry quickly dropped the request into the icy silence that followed.

"Your idea of a reward is watching me eat at a fancy French restaurant?" she said looking at the vampire.

"Just say yes or no Vicki."

"I just don't believe in this Valentine's Day romantic…crap, chocolates and long stemmed roses, it's all a conspiracy by the florists of the world!" Vicki blustered.

Henry was surprised when he heard, Coreen's voice from the door. _Blessings on you, little sister! _He thought.

"Just say yes or no Vicki." Coreen grinned as she echoed Henry's words.

"Fine, Sunday night, nine o'clock, and none of that schmaltzy Valentine's shit," she gave way with ill grace.

Henry was beside her in an instant, so close that she could feel his cool breath on her face.

"Thank-you, my Lady." He breathed, "I hope that with the right encouragement, Cupid might target your heart and his arrows course straight and true…"

"Well he certainly better not shoot at you." Vicki said a little sourly.

Henry smiled, "While it is true that I am already smitten…" Coreen rolled her eyes where she leaned against the door frame.

"That's not what I meant, Cupid shooting his arrows…arrows little WOODEN projectiles, straight into your, undead heart…presto, no more Vampire Valentine." Vicki snorted, and then sobered as Henry drew back from her and she heard Coreen's gasp from the door.

In the next second she lost sight of Henry, he reappeared at the door beside, Coreen. He kissed her cheek gently and said. "Good evening, Coreen." And then he was gone, even as Vicki was sputtering, "Henry wait, I didn't mean it that way…Henry?"

Coreen looked accusingly at her from the doorway but only turned silently on her heel and returned to her desk.

Vicki dropped her head to her desk in a parody of banging her forehead against the desk top. _I do it every time, every single time, why do they bother with me?_

**:::**

The next day, Saturday the thirteenth, a packet arrived by courier. Her posture still stiff with disapproval Coreen, brought it through to Vicki's office.

Vicki looked up from her desk, she hadn't slept well the night before, Henry hadn't answered her calls and when she had retired, she had fallen into strange dreams.

_She had been chasing a huntsman, a vampire slayer, who was pursuing Henry. Cold, blue moonlight shone down and the sky above was studded with stars. Forest surrounded her as she tried desperately to catch up to the figures that flitted between the tree trunks ahead. _

_The faster she ran, the slower she seemed to close the distance. She called out a protest as she watched the slayer notch and arrow draw back on the bow in his hands. "No…" _

_The arrow was loosed and the solid thunk of it striking its mark, filled Vicki with a sudden despair._

_She ran forward and found Henry leaning against the trunk of a tree, gazing down at his hands clutched over his heart. The front of his embroidered doublet was drenched in blood and the shaft of an arrow protruded from between his fingers. _

_He looked up to her, ebony-eyed and said brokenly. "Lady, I am…smitten." _

_She heard the hiss of the blade as the huntsman drew his sword from the scabbard._

"_I'm going to sent you to hell, where you belong, bloodsucking vermin," the huntsman shouted, as he pushed past her…_

She had awakened with a shout, surging bolt upright in her bed, her heart pounding. For the rest of the night sleep and eluded her. _It was just a stupid dream, made up of fragments of our argument, nothing more,_ she thought, but still the comfort of sleep had been lost to her.

Now she held out her hand for the packet and Coreen gave it to her with a look of disgust.

"What?" Vicky asked. Coreen raised her eyebrows and with a shrug said

"The sender's address is Henry's condo." She turned away, retreating to her own desk.

Vicki pulled back the tab of the courier packet and shook out a large cream colored envelope, onto her desk.

Her name, in the beautiful cursive script on the front, seemed like an indictment, to her gritty eyes.

The envelope was unsealed and she opened the flap to draw out a single heavy sheet of paper, crisply folded, once in half. Staring at the flowing script on the page in front of her, she pictured Henry at his drawing table, bent over the surface and writing with one of the calligraphic pens that he was so fond of using. She read;

My Dearest Victoria;

I most humbly apologize for allowing my temper to gain the upper hand yesterday evening, and for the abrupt nature of my departure. Please know that I would rather face the sunrise, than harm you in any way.

Your Humble Servant,

Henry Fitzroy.

PS. Surrey was ever, more skilled with words than I.

_For when in sighs I spent the day,  
And could not cloak my grief with game;  
The boiling smoke did still bewray  
The present heat of secret flame._

And when salt tears do bain my breast,  
Where Love his pleasant trains hath sown ;  
Her beauty hath the fruits opprest,  
Ere that the buds were sprung and blown.

And when mine eyen did still pursue  
The flying chase of their request;  
Their greedy looks did oft renew  
The hidden wound within my breast.

When every look these cheeks might stain,  
From deadly pale to glowing red;  
By outward signs appeared plain,  
To her for help my heart was fled.

But all too late Love learneth me  
To paint all kind of colours new;  
To blind their eyes that else should see  
My speckled cheeks with Cupid's hue.

And now the covert breast I claim,  
That worshipp'd Cupid secretely;  
And nourished his sacred flame,  
From whence no blazing sparks do fly.

Excerpt from Henry Howard's "Description of the Restless State of a Lover"

That evening, she had called him, but he hadn't picked up his phone, and miffed that he was avoiding her, she had declined to leave a message. When she hadn't heard from him at midnight, she called again and the phone went immediately to voicemail, indicating that his cell was off or the charge was gone.

_Come on Fitzroy, it was just a little joke, don't be this way,_ she thought. _Even when I first met him Henry never avoided my calls, I hope he's alright._

The tone for recording sounded.

"Henry, its Vicki, Uhhh, just wondering if we are still on for tomorrow night, I mean it's fine if you changed your mind or whatever, anyways I'll be ready at ten to nine, you can pick me up. So, I guess that I will see you then…that's it then. Uhhh...bye."

_Well that sounded pathetic, Nelson…Jeez!_


	3. Chapter 3

She stood in Henry's condo, the sunlight streaming in through the windows, touching on the familiar furnishings and cutting a bright swath across Henry's drawing table, illuminating the letter that lay there, the pen resting, capped on top.

She crossed unwillingly, dragging her feet, afraid of what she might read there, and yet drawn irrevocably forward. Her fingers found the edge of the table, she glanced down, and eyes squinted, against the brilliant sunlight read… _I would rather face the sunrise_…in the distinctive and flowing cursive of Henry's hand.

She whirled to the sanctuary, only now noticing that the door was ajar, she slipped inside his bedroom. The shades were securely down, but the bed was empty. She crossed and ran a hand over the cool smooth sheets.

She glanced around the room as though she expected to see him in the shadows, nothing. Her mind was filled with a memory of Henry, the sadness and longing on his face when he confessed, that he had left Alexander's body on the roof, that the sunrise would take him.

"No," she cried out her despair as she bolted from the room and then out through the condo to the hallway.

"No, no Henry please, say it's not true," she mumbled as she wrenched open the access door and took the stairs towards the roof two at a time. "No."

She pushed open the door onto the roof throwing up an arm to protect her eyes from the brilliant noon day sun.

She saw it… and her heart froze. "No." she whispered brokenly and she tottered forward to the man-shaped blackened area on the roof's asphalt floor. She fell to her knees beside the blurred, blackened shape. Streaks of wind-disturbed ashes were fanned out against the asphalt, the majority already scattered. There was a small pile of ash at the point where a hand would have been, ashes caught and drifted against a coiled ornate and antique ruby necklace.

The name tore from her lungs, hanging on the sunlit air. "Henry…"

"Henry…" She clawed her way back to wakefulness, rolling over on her side in the sweat drenched sheets, retching and sobbing. "Henry." It was no more than a whimper, as she forced her eyes open.

The sun was a pale yellow wedge across the floor of her bedroom. She focused on that wedge for a moment, afraid to close her eyes, lest that blackened man-shaped smudge be waiting, on the inside of her lids.

There were sirens in the distance and the sounds of traffic drifted up from the street, Vicki slowly blinked once and then twice, raising a trembling hand to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

"Fuck," she waged a brief battle with the tangled sheets and then swung her legs to the floor sitting upright and stretching out her hand to lift Henry's letter from the bedside table. Her eyes finding the line in which her nightmare was based…_I would rather face the sunrise than_…

She ran a hand through her hair. _Fuck, Henry…Why would you say something like that…_

Rising she walked unsteadily to the washroom, turning on the tap in the sink and scooping a handful of water into her parched mouth. Reaching into the shower she turned on the hot water, then leaned against the sink and looked intently at her shadowed reflection in the mirror.

"It was just a dream," she told her image, "Just a dream."

**:::**

Coreen was her usual and painfully chipper self when Vicki finally dragged herself into the office at close to noon.

_Apparently I have been forgiven_, Vicki thought sourly, noting the bright red tights under the usual Goth garb, the whole outfit topped off by two antennae with sequined hearts, bobbing spring-like above her black hair. _I know that she is doing it just to punish me…_

"Happy Valentine's Day, Vicki," she chirped as she set a small stack of messages on the desk. "Phillip Dranger already called back, he is checking their records now, he was very pleased with the information we sent him."

Coreen paused and then looked more carefully at Vicki's rather haggard face.

"Are you alright, you don't look so good, well I mean, it's not like you look bad, but, well your hair…" Coreen's voice faded away under Vicki's gimlet gaze, but after a moment she rallied and continued with a toss of her head that sent the glittering hearts bobbing wildly."Your coffee is on the desk, you'll probably need to nuke it."

Vicki leaned forward in her seat and rested her head on her hand.

"I didn't sleep well last night, again, and I had another nightmare and now I have a major headache looming". She ran her hand out along the surface of the desk, groping for the coffee cup and missing it by a mile.

"Tsk" Coreen clucked her tongue, and reached out to lift the coffee from the desk. "I'll get that for you, Vicki, maybe you want to stretch out a bit…"

"No, no…just the coffee and a couple of Advil's and I'll be okay, I want to get some work done." She said though she hadn't moved as Coreen turned and made her way out of the office to the microwave.

When she had been fortified by the coffee and the two Advil, supplemented by some slices of orange and a muffin, she suspected were from Coreen's own stash, Vicki punched up her computer and checked her e-mail, nothing from Henry. She sighed heavily, and then, fanned through the messages. There was a call back from the mother of one of the missing teens in Brampton, and then Rajani had called from her home number, with some DNA results that Vicki had inquired after. Slowly the day resumed its routine, chasing away the nightmare images that haunted her.

At two-thirty Coreen came to the office door and when Vicki raised her head from the computer screen, the Goth stood grinning widely and holding onto very large, red velvet, heart-shaped box of chocolates. "This was just delivered for you Vicki." She said with a grin.

The relief Vicki felt was almost comical, _now why the fuck would a stupid box of chocolates done up with a bow make me feel like crying?_ "I told Henry, that I didn't want any of this Valentine's Day crap," she said, though Coreen could tell that her heart wasn't really in the acerbic comment.

"There's a card," Coreen said as she leaned the huge box in the chair, and slipped the card out from under the ribbon, and handed it to Vicki.

Smiling, Vicki tore open the envelope and opened the card and… the creeping fear of the morning, returned full force.

"They're from M-Mike, she stuttered, "not Henry." She sat down heavily in her chair, staring at nothing for a few seconds and then said. "I'm taking off early Coreen, call me a cab, then you can shut down, and take off."

"Are you okay Vicki, you look as white as a …well, as white as Henry. Maybe you should call off your date tonight if you're really not well?" Coreen said uncertainly.

"I'll be fine, Coreen, really…I think I might go over to Henry's place and surprise him." Vicki plastered a smile on her face, while inside her heart was twisting with worry.

"Cool" Coreen said, "I have a date," she said as she whirled away into the outer office.

Vicki dug in her desk drawer and pulled out the bottle of scotch and the glass she kept there, pouring herself a good measure of golden courage. She knocked it off, in two long swallows, then shut down her lap top and straightened away the files on her desk. The scotch had burned a heated path down her chest to her stomach and was now radiating a curious buzzing warmth out to her extremities and bringing a blush of pink to her cheeks. _Maybe one more, she thought, yeah, one more before the cab shows up._

Fifteen minutes later, clad in a belted trench coat, she was bidding Coreen good-bye at the door and with the scotch bottle in her bag at her shoulder she climbed into the cab. After giving Henry's address, she sat back in the seat and tried to prevent the images of her dream from rising in her brain. _I'm just going to go and surprise him at his place, that's all it is. He'll be happy to see me when he wakes up. We'll go out and I'll even let him tell me all those things that make me want to cave, if he is just, if he is just…_

The combination of scotch and the overactive heater in the front of the cab was making her feel woozy, and she turned to lay her forehead against the cool glass of the window. It was then that she saw the hardware store. She slapped the back of the seat, behind the driver.

"Mac, go around the block and pull up in front of the hardware store we just passed. I need to run in and buy something." When the taxi was parked in front she told the driver "Wait for me here."

In less than ten minutes she was back, tossing the bag with her purchase and her purse onto the back seat.

"Let's go" she said to the driver. She stuffed her purchase into her voluminous bag alongside of the near empty scotch bottle.

**:::**

The security guard stopped her at the front desk, but before she could work herself into a really indignant state, he found her name on the Approved Visitors List. Once she understood that he was going to let her pass, she was calmer, and in the elevator she pulled herself into some semblance of order. She ran her hand through her hair, her cheeks and forehead felt as though she was fevered and try as she might the same line kept echoing around in her mind. _"I would rather meet the sunrise." I would rather meet…"_

When the door slid back at Henry's floor, she startled and let out the breath that she had been holding. _Get a grip Nelson_ she told herself as she walked to Henry's door and then fished in her bag for the keys. _That was really dumb, why didn't you find them while you were standing in the elevator._ When she finally laid her hand on them she fit them in the lock and cracked open the door.

Once she had brought up the lights, she closed the door behind her and latched it. The air in the vampire's sanctuary was still and cool_, as cool as his skin_, she thought. As she crossed to the shades that covered the windows and the setting sun beyond, she could feel the quiet emptiness of the space. The surface of the shade was reassuring beneath her palm; _Henry was safe here, in this place_. She trailed her fingers down the smooth surface and then crossed towards the kitchen. Halfway there she caught herself tiptoeing and shook herself with a rueful smile. _Why are you creeping around, he sleeps like the…dead._ She hiccupped out a little sob and the thought circled once more to the forefront, _I would rather face the sunrise_.

Dumping her bag on the counter, she pulled out the bottle and taking a glass from the cupboard emptied the rest of the scotch into it. She took a sip and then removed her coat, another sip and she pulled her sweater over her head and then loosened the tie in her hair to let it tumble around her shoulders.

She swirled the scotch in the glass and relished the heat of the liquid as it glided down her throat and then leaned a hand on the counter and slipped off her shoes and then bending pulled off her socks.

_Jeez Nelson, this is like some crazy stunt out of a women's magazine article… "Ten Things To Get the Vampire Who Has Everything for Valentine's…. I really can't believe I am doing this._ But her hands moved to the button of her jeans and she unzipped and then lowered them to the floor, leaning once more against the edge of Henry's granite countertop for balance as she stepped out of the denim.

She drained the last of her drink and then set the glass with the diligent care of the slightly inebriated on the countertop. Reaching up she undid the front clasp of her bra and slipped it off, her nipples puckering at the sudden exposure to the cooler air.

_This is such a stupid idea, throwing yourself at the guy like some sort of…_

She pushed her underwear down her smooth legs and stepped clear of the silky fabric. Swaying slightly as she stood, she was now completely naked, in the middle of Henry Fitzroy's kitchen.

_This is not one of your best ideas Vicki, I mean really, what is he going to think when he wakes up and there you are, as Mom would say 'buck naked' standing at the foot of his bed?_ She crossed her arms defensively over her chest at the thought. _Happy Valentine's Day Henry! I am giving you just what you wanted, exactly what you wanted…I'm making you a present of…Fuck, stop it. I'm going to do this…_

She picked up the trench coat she had been wearing and wrapped it around her, the silken lining cool against the heat of her skin. She didn't button it, but cinched the belt, tight at the waist.

_I'll feel better if I can just watch him for a while, when I see him, all this will feel less…staged, less clinical…if I can just see him…_

She crossed to the doors of Henry's bedroom and drew in a sharp breath as only now she noticed that the door was ajar, she slipped inside.

The shades were securely down but… the bed was empty.

She crossed, to the bed and ran a hand over the cool smooth sheets and looked wildly around the room as though she expected to see him in the shadows, nothing.

"_I would rather face the sunrise…" _The images of her dream came tumbling back around her. _Too late, you're too late; you left it too long…_

She shook her head in an effort to dislodge the horrendous vision of…of…

"No!" she whispered as she sank to the floor. "No!"


	4. Chapter 4

_It's not real it's not real…just a dream that's all…_

_Come on Vicki, come on…you know it's not real…_somehow she managed to get her feet under her and levered herself to an upright position. She could feel the tears cascading down the skin of her cheeks, could taste the salt at the corners of her mouth. But she could waste no energy to wipe them away.

She reached out and lifted Henry's pillow from the bed. She gathered it to her arms and buried her face in the smooth cotton of the pillow cover. She inhaled his scent. There was nothing of the dead about it, no matter what the legends said. It was clean and familiar and definitely alive. A scent that sparked a fire low below her belly, a scent that fanned that spark into glowing warmth that spread outwards from her core. She could feel the moistening of her sex and the tightening and lifting of her breasts, suddenly aware of the sliding of the silken lining of her coat against their swelling and sensitive tips.

She lifted her head from the pale grey pillow and saw the dark stain of her tears, damp and spreading against the fabric. She tightened her arms around it as though she held Henry himself to her body in an empty and futile maneuver that did nothing to quiet the terror in her heart.

_He can't be, it's not real, and it's not…he would never…_

She laid the pillow back in its place and ran a gentle hand across the fabric to smooth its surface, with a tenderness that she had never shown the man, for whom she now feared. Then she backed away from the bed slowly, sliding her feet across the surface of the floor, as though to lift them from the earth would cause her to spin away into the immense darkness that waited, _if ..if…_

When she reached the door of the bedroom she turned and began to walk, woodenly, her gait one of a marionette handled by an amateur. She moved but her steps were neither sure nor coordinated. She watched the door of the apartment grow steadily closer, but she was not quite sure how that was occurring.

She watched her hand come up and unlatch the lock and then the door swing open and she blinked at the white painful light of the hallway. Her ears were full with the rapid thumping of her heart and for a moment that sound consumed her consciousness; she attended that fluttering pulse and wondered at how it continued to beat, beneath the crushing weight of the pain that burdened it. Fear spurred her on and she raised tear glazed eyes to set her sight on the handle of the door that led to the stairs.

_It's just a dream, only a dream. Not Henry…not my Henry…_ She saw the flash of his smile, the strong curve of his jaw, the black and vacuous hunger in the gaze of the being that dwelt behind that studied and debonair façade. _No…please…_

The edges of her vision were dark and grayed and she gazed down the tunnel of Retinitis Pigmentosa, she was moving again and her focus on the handle of that door never wavered. Had anyone been watching they would have noted the shuffling, stumbling gait and the silent sobs that shook her frame as she made her slow progress, one hand trailing along the wall, as her anchor to the here and now.

Finally, she saw her hand close on the knob and with the same sense of disassociation, she watched herself turn the handle. The door edged open to the blue lit, echoing, concrete of the stairwell. The cool, damp surface of the landing beneath her soles caused her to glance down to her bare feet. Her eyes down, she felt blindly for the metal railing of the stair and wrapped her fingers around the cold hard surface.

_It was just a dream… He had moved in close and when she glanced up, smiled beguilingly and asked 'Am I Vicki? Am I your Sweet Prince?"_

Her brow furrowed as the puppet master controlled her actions and she watched as her feet lifted and settled on one tread and then the next as she climbed the stairs to the roof. At length she stood swaying in front of the door to the roof. The smooth gray surface of the door filled her gaze and she stared at it dully. _Freshly painted,_ a corner of her mind noted she could still smell the scent of the thinners lingering in the air. She wiped ineffectually at the tears on her cheeks with the heel of her palms, and then sniffed loudly.

_All I need to do, all I need to do is open the door. Just open the door and check the roof. It is just a dream… it is just a dream_. She flexed her fingers where her hands hung limp at her sides. And then she watched her hand slowly rise to close on the latch.

_All I need to do is open the door._ The image of the blackened shape and the streaming, wind-scattered ashes fanned across the asphalt rose and with it, the tide of fear, dark and powerful. She drew her hand back from the handle as though she was burned, the tears leaking slowly down her cheeks.

_Fuck Nelson, if it is true, if he did it, if he met the sunrise like in the dream…then he is out there …all alone. I can't, I can't let him be all alone._ She chewed on her full lower lip and raised her hand to the latch again. _Just do it, just do it Vicki…_

When she emerged out onto the roof, the wind caught at her, whipping her hair around her face and sending the bottom of her coat flapping out behind her. The sun was a huge red disk low, burning on the horizon and throwing the buildings opposite into silhouette. Its fiery rays played out long and low against the surface of the roof. She looked to the left and then to right and there was…there was…nothing.

The pressure on her heart eased slightly, no blackened smudge of an ancient life that had flickered out, no ashes; nothing marred the smooth, windswept expanse of the roof. As the sun settle below the horizon, barefooted she paced the perimeter, until it was too dark to see, her eyes never leaving the ground until she was satisfied that this…at least…was not the place.

She made it as far as the third step down from the door before her legs grew so weak that she needed to sit. She crouched pulling her knees to her chest…and then the tears came.

:::

He piloted the Jag into his spot smoothly, normally he enjoyed the smooth thrum of the mechanical beast that transported him, for so he chose to view the powerful machine, but tonight, he was in a hurry. He was late and there was simply not enough time available to him at present.

His lips lifted in a slight grin at the thought, _fou_r_ hundred and eighty years old and a virtual eternity ahead of me and right now I am out of time._ Shaking his head he exited the Jag and dropping his keys in his coat pocket, he skirted the car and crossed in a blur, to the elevator. Pressing the button, he tucked his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels waiting. He had risen less that fifteen minutes ago, and he was anxious to return home to his sanctuary.

With an exasperated sigh, he hit the button again. _I could take the stairs, but the chance of the security cameras catching something untoward, are too high._ He listened as the slithering sound of the elevator lowering down the shaft grew louder. _Come on…_

When the doors slid open, he braced himself for an instant and then strode into the small square chamber. As always, it made the hair on the back of his neck rise and he resolutely pressed the number for his floor.

The scents were familiar, the scents of home, he realized. The scent of disinfectant cleaner and the orange oil that was used on the dark wood paneling, the scent of GoGo, Mrs. Springer's Pomeranian, who always clawed her way over her owner's shoulder, barking shrilly, whenever Henry happened on them in the elevator. There was the lingering trace of Chanel 5 that was the signature of the august Mrs. Bleinskop. Who at ninety-two was the buildings oldest _human_ resident.

Waking in the strange space of the sanctuary in Augustus's safe house, had made him realize exactly how attached he had become to his current 'lodgings'. Opening his eyes to that vault like space had unsettled him and he had made his escape as soon as possible_. Still the negotiations went well, and dispensations to visit three separate territories on the book tour next May, though arduous to obtain, had eventually been granted. The fact that the last had gone on until nearly dawn, had stretched even Augustus's legendary patience. I will need to remember to call Nancy tonight and confirm that I can go …as agents go she is fairly understanding of my…idiosyncrasies._

He watched the numbers as they blinked off, trying to ignore the shivering sensation that periodically passed over his flesh. The car stopped on the tenth floor and the door opened_, _revealing and empty hallway. Piqued with the needless delay, he leaned forward and pushed the door closed button and then folded his hands in front of him to force himself to patience.

_I am glad that I went and retrieved Vicki's Valentine gift from the vault, Friday evening, I would definitely have run out of time tonight, though I will admit that I wasn't in the most romantic or chivalrous state of mind at that particular moment. He thought about the tiny square velvet case in his apartment safe, I hope she will accept it. She can be the most annoying and intractable… _

The door slid open on his floor; Vicki's scent flowed into the tiny space with the inrush of air from the hallway. Her scent was everywhere, wafting and billowing around him, despair and terror underwritten by the teasingly sweet smell of scotch. He surged into the hallway with a snarl, his fang slipping into place and his pupils expanding with his abrupt release of the predator.

_Where was she? Who threatened her, who threatened what was his?_ He moved first to the condo bursting through the open door and skidding to a momentary stop. He called her name, his voice full of compulsion in his anxiety. "Vicki…"

Black eyes scanned the room, she wasn't here, though she had been, he lifted his chin drawing in a breath and flashed through to the sanctuary, _not here_…_ Where was she? __Calm yourself, this isn't helping._ The vampire was inflamed and twisted and writhed in his grasp, the cold fear in Henry's hard prompting the beast to fury.

He dropped his head and listened, carefully, to the thunder of the heartbeats in the building around him. _Was she here, that treasured sound, did he hear it among them? There….there…_

At a speed that folded the air in on itself behind him, he was at the stair well door, and through out onto the landing where the heavy sweet throbbing of her heart beckoned.

She raised a swollen and tear-stained face from her bare knees, her skin blotched and red, and her hair tangled and windblown. The beast roared within as he realized that she was naked beneath the fabric of a coat that had slipped from her shoulder exposing the smooth flesh of her chest. _Who had done this?_ Anger and fear warred in his chest. _Who had harmed her? _

Her eyes narrowed, and she looked at him as though she were puzzled, "Henry…you're not all burnt up to ashes?"

:::

Vicki felt his arms come round her, heard his voice in her ear. "Oh no my love," he whispered to her, "I am here with you." He drew her tight against his hard chest.

"My heart, has someone..._harmed_ you?" He could scent no other male on her and yet the musk of arousal shimmered over her skin. She shook her head no, in a minute gesture.

"I went to the roof, you know." she said in a drained and distant voice. "I thought, I thought that maybe, you had decided, that you would…that you would… When your bed was empty and it was… just like the dream. I thought you had…" her voice caught on a sob.

He brushed her hair back from her face and when she looked up at him he kissed her lips gently, repeating, the only comfort he could give her. "I am here love, with you." He lifted her, unresisting into his arms and she clung to him, her head resting against his chest. She mumbled now as one in a delirium.

"You're not all burnt up to ashes? Not like …Alexander, on the roof?" She stiffened in his arms turning her tear-coated eyes to his as he bore her back to his sanctuary. "This isn't a dream…is it?"

His heart twisted in his chest at the thought that she had been on the roof, searching for his ashes. _Why, why would she think such a thing?_

"This is not a dream, Vicki." He told her, as he carried her weight easily through the condo door, kicking it closed to latch behind them with click.

He crossed straight to the bedroom and laid her on the bed. When he moved to turn away to the washroom, she grasped at his hand.

"Henry…"

"Hush, love, let me do this for you." He purred in her ear, as soothingly and his own thudding heart would allow him. "I am here, you can watch me."

Vicki's head rolled to the side and she watched him as he moved to the washroom running the water and returning with a towel and two warm wet facecloths. He could see the glitter of her eyes as he returned.

Setting aside the cloths he smiled at her, as he un-cinched the belt of the coat that had long since ceased to afford her any modesty. He drew it away from her body, and she felt the cool surface of the sheets against her skin as she lay naked upon his bed.

She was beautiful and compliant, in a way that terrified him. _Where was she? Where was his Vicki, his warrior princess?_

He began to bathe her, gently, her forehead and cheeks as she watched him, then down her long and beautiful neck. She sighed gustily as he returned to rinse and heat the cloths again and then again, bathing her arms and hands her chest and breasts, and she slowly relaxed under his touch closing her bruised and haunted eyes.

He moved on to her torso, as her breathing evened out and the rise and fall of her chest deepened. He washed with infinite gentleness and care, her sex, and then continued on until he had cleansed her cold and grimy feet. He put aside the cloths and gazed down upon his love, she was beautiful and golden and rumpled and at this moment vulnerable.

Sighing he drew the covers of the bed up over her unresisting form, and then he crossed to the other side of the bed and shed his clothing. He slid between the sheets and glanced at the red numbers of the clock. It was not quite eight in the evening; he had risen little more than an hour ago. With a sigh, he stretched his frame out beside her, and as she turned towards him, seeking, seeking the comfort of his embrace, even in her exhausted state, he gathered her into his arms, dropping his lips to the top of her tousled hair.

His black eyes stared off into the dark of the room.

"Hush love, I'm here…go to sleep."


	5. Chapter 5

Vicki stirred, there was a slight shift in her breathing, a miniscule increase of her heart beat, her lips parted and the softest breath sighed from her lungs. Vicki stirred in his arms.

The vampire, had been at rest, not precisely sleep, for that respite was forbidden his kind, but travelling the paths of his memory. The current moment had faded until his only connection to the present was that his senses monitored the human that lay in his arms.

As she stirred the vampire returned, the lids slowly dropped over the ebony of his eyes and a gusting sigh escaped him. He retreated behind the mask of humanity, and when his eyes swept open again it was Henry Fitzroy, who lay with his love in his embrace.

Vicki stirred, she wanted to stay here, she was safe, safe and loved and warm. She shifted; she was curled on her side, her shins pressed against long cool thighs and her arms folded across her breasts, her head pillowed on a cool smooth chest. She sighed deeply and snuggled closer, delaying the moment that she left the shelter of sleep. Her breathing deepened and slowed and she floated between sleep and wakefulness her mind twisting and turning like a leaf flittering through the air. A pair a smiling blue eyes, a heart shaped velvet box of chocolates, Coreen's face below bobbling sequined hearts, the long low red rays of the sun slanting across the roof, the cold damp feel of the concrete as she sat on the stairs weeping…and his voice, _'Oh no my love, I am here with you.'_

When she opened her eyes it was to the dark, though she knew instantly that she was in Henry's arms. The scent that was uniquely his flowed around her, and as she listened she heard a single slow contraction of his heart beneath her ear.

She did not uncurl her body, or move from his embrace, but tilted her head slowly back until she could look up into his face.

He looked down at her and spoke softly as though he thought he might frighten her. "I am here, my heart."

There was the whisper of sheets as his arms loosed her and he shifted and rose to one elbow to bend over her, tousled curls hung about eyes that were full of love and fear.

She shifted to her back; her head now pillowed on his arm, and sighed, turning her face to his chest again, resting her forehead on the cool flesh.

She spoke into that dark and intimate space, her warm breath passing over his skin, and the vampire attended her whispered words.

"I thought you were gone, Henry." She sighed. "I thought you had given yourself to the sunrise, like you said in your letter." He shifted slightly, drawing in a breath to speak, but then…did not.

"I had a d-dream, that you were gone, and that there was nothing left of you, but ashes on the roof and even then, even then the wind had swept most of them away…and I knew, I knew you had been alone and you had given up your life, alone, and that now we could never be together the way…the way I wanted…"

The vampire drew inwards on himself, as though he was stricken with a sudden deep pain, and then he straightened and lifted her chin, bending to kiss her lips tenderly. Leaning over her, he rested his head against her shoulder, hearing the pounding of the blood racing though her, beneath him. "I am sorry my love, I never meant to hurt you, I didn't…I didn't know."

"She shook her head slightly. "How could you know? It wasn't real; it was just a dream, made from the awful things I said and my own stupid fears, those fears, are what had deprived me of the thing I want most."

Henry's eyes searched hers; he was stuck to silence by her admission. She lifted a hand to trace his jaw, and said. "That is, if you still want a grouchy, stubborn, half blind PI who…" Her words were cut short as his lips crashed down to hers. She shifted towards him as he rolled to lay his body over hers.

He was curiously heavy, solid and her body responded immediately to his cool length as he covered her. She opened her mouth beneath him and he entered, his tongue exploring her as though he were starved, then as he withdrew he inhaled the air from her lungs, drawing her own life's breath into his body. She gasped at the intimacy of that act, he tossed back his head, rising up off her to his elbows and her sex flooded with heat as his weight shifted, pressing her down to the mattress beneath him.

Instinct drove her as in response she opened her thighs and her hands came up to grasp his slim hips. He stilled in her grasp, though she could feel his hard length across her belly, and she tightened and loosened her buttocks, creating a sweet torture of friction between their bodies.

"She panted out the question, "I take it… that's a… yes?"

Henry dropped his head forward his eyes meeting hers, bleeding from blue to black and back to blue, she could feel the tremor in his body, the shifting and flickering of his skin as he held himself back by iron will. His response when it came was borne on a rumbling low growl, as he ground himself down against her "Yessss…Vicki?"

She knew he was waiting, in deference to her needs, and she lifted her knees in response, feeling him slide lower until his was positioned at her entrance.

"I want you Henry, I want you as close as close can be, as close as you can get, please, Henry I n-need you." She was driven under by her own admission of dependence, her own surrender and her sex grew slick at the exposure of her truth.

He entered her smoothly in a swift thrust and she angle her hips upward to meet him, tightening her grasp on his hips as he withdrew and then with a growling groan thrust deeper and again deeper still, working his hips side to side until he could go no further. Then he stilled and she felt her internal walls accommodate to the pulsing breadth of his need. He filled her, and she held him tight in that intimate embrace.

"I am with you, my heart." He whispered in her ear as he bent to kiss her lips and jaw and then to nuzzle the hollow below her ear, where her pulse sang it's distracting and taunting song.

She sighed out her own groan as she felt his lips questing across the skin of her throat and chest, dipping to briefly taste her nipples before rising again back to rest at the pulse of her life once more.

She reached up to wrap her hands in his curls and pulled up his face until they were eye to eye. "That's not close enough, my love, I want all that you are with me Henry, I want you to…" she paused as his eyes darkened to obsidian, bottomless and shining moist with tears.

"I want you to be joined to me in every way, every way possible, Henry…please." She shifted her hips beneath him, as his fang lowered into view, sharp and deadly. She released his face and lifted her chin, exposing the long column of her throat.

The sound he made was a low muffled whine, a sound balanced between pleasure and pain as his cool lips travelled over her shoulder searching.

She felt him withdraw and thrust and withdraw and thrust, slowly and then more quickly and she clutched him to her, meeting him with her own crashing rhythm. She could feel his panting breath on her skin as he twisted now lifting his body higher up so that his lips and tongue worked in unison laving a point just below her jaw.

"V-Vicki, my own…my own heart." He moaned and then she felt a sharp and delicious pain that sent her body spasming against his as he molded his lips to her flesh and…drank.

She bucked upwards lifting her shoulders from the bed and he lifted with her, sliding his arms under and around her, holding her to him. He felt her walls clamp down on him and all conscious thought fled, as they merged for those few fleeting moments into a single being, and he lost himself within her.

"Henry? She could feel his weight on her and the slow expansion of his chest, when she came back to herself. She could hear the soft sounds that he made as his throat worked and he continued to feed for a few more seconds, before withdrawing his fangs from her flesh, then there was the cool press of his lips as he placed a gentle kiss over his bite. He turned his face to the hollow under her chin, pursing his lips against her skin once more.

Vicki tightened her arms around his strong back and then loosened her embrace. Henry interpreted this to mean that she wished him to lift his weight off her and her indrawn breath as he did so, confirmed his assessment. He slid lower to ease himself away from her, relishing her small moan of protest as he left her; he turned on his back to lie at her side, her head still resting on his chest. Her leg came up to loop over his hips and thighs possessively, her arm curled over his chest.

He lifted the hand of the arm beneath her, to stroke her hair, twisting and turning a strand of the golden silk as his other arm ran softly up and down her forearm.

Eventually he spoke. "It pains me love, that my words have caused you this harm. I meant only to declare my love and intention to protect you and instead…instead I have done the exact opposite."

"I told you, it's not your fault, handsome" she said as she glanced up. "Where were you though? I really only freaked out when I saw that you weren't here."

"I was with Augustus, negotiating some permissions for the book tour…" Henry began.

Vicki levered herself up so she was leaning on his chest, "You told me that. You told me that you were meeting with Augustus when was it, last week? I forgot." She grimaced, "I can't believe I forgot… What about the phone? You never answered my calls or my messages."

"I'm sorry love, the evening, when I left you, I was angry, and I thought that if I answered we would quarrel again. If I had known…" he sighed and then continued, "And then when I was with Augustus my phone died. It didn't occur to me that…"

"Vicki tightened her arms around him, "Don't Henry, don't make everything your fault, as it turns out, you can protect me from everything but myself."

His only response was a low grumble that she felt rather than heard.

They were silent for a few moments, Vicki running a lazy finger around and around his nearest nipple.

After a moment she said, "Well, you got my Valentine's gift, though not exactly as I intended," here she dropped her hand to rest briefly on his inert manhood. He exhaled softly as she moved on. "So what about…"

Henry sat upright tipping her over, bouncing once as she settled on the bed. "Oh, Vicki, I had forgotten," he switched on the lamp, and then padded, naked, away from her across the room. He crossed into the living room out of her view, she heard him moving about and then a moment later came striding back a small square velvet box in one hand and a large glass of orange juice in the other.

Suddenly her throat was dry, as she reached out for the juice; she tried for a light tone. "Man, I thought the view was good going away, but it was even better coming back!"

Henry smiled widely, but instead of blushing simply said. "I thank-you milady."

"Uh huh…there is that nagging self doubt" she said. He settled on the edge of the bed beside her and she rose up onto one elbow, her hair falling forward around her shoulders.

Henry held out the box to her conscious of the way her nipple brushed against the skin of his forearm.

"I would be very pleased Victoria," he said, "if you would accept this ring, as a token of my, regard?"

When Vicki had snapped open the case there on a white silken lining was a tiny filigreed ring in which was mounted a ruby the color of a drop of blood.

She held the ring up where it glistened and caught the lamplight. "It's beautiful Henry, but and don't take this wrong, it is so tiny."

Henry nodded, "When I was ten, my mother sent this to me as a New Years gift, while I was at court. She said that I should remember that the blood of the Blount family also ran in my veins, as red as ever was this stone." His eyes grew distant at the memory and as she stirred, he took the ring from her and slipped it on to her baby finger. It settled smoothly into place. "It would …please me if you would wear it now and again."

"I will," she said closing her fingers to a fist, "thank you." She smiled and rose to kiss his lips. He reached out to embrace her, but she placed a hand against his chest, "Wait, Henry." She slid past him down the bed and jumped, agile to her feet. "I have something for you as well."

She sped out of the room in a flash of long legs and swinging hair only to reappear a moment later with her, _in Henry's opinion_, enormous purse.

She settled on the bed again and dug unceremoniously through her bag eventually retrieving the white plastic bag from the hardware store. She pushed her hair behind her ear and with a serious expression on her face, presented the bag to him. "Happy Valentine's Hank." She said wiggling as she settled back, her breasts bobbing in a most distracting manner.

Henry opened the bag and reached in to extract the contents, with a puzzled look he said courteously enough, "Why thank you love, it's…?"

"Vicki grinned, "It's duct tape Henry, well more specifically, it's red duct tape, for Valentine's, a whole roll just for you."

Henry's brows rose, approaching his hairline; finally she took pity on him. She lifted the roll from his hand.

"Look Henry, you are a romantic," she ran her fingers down his chest pausing for a moment to watch his nipple harden and rise. "That is a fact that I am learning to … appreciate. And we both know that as hard as you try, sometimes…most times I open my mouth and ruin things. THIS, is your own role of '_Shut-up Vicki Tape._'" Here, she paused to tear a six inch piece off the roll, and then said. "It's not hard Henry, it works like this…" She plastered the tape over her mouth, "MMMFFnnMMM!!"

Her laughing eyes, over the edge of the tape, were more than he could bear and he reached out and rolled her to the mattress once more beneath him. She wriggled below him, as he ground his hardening manhood against her.

"MMMFFnnMMM" she groaned, her eyes full of love.

"Hush my love, I'm here with you."

FIN


End file.
